BusinessTN

When Dennis Grimaud, former president of the Tennessee Biotechnology Association, decided to launch biotechnology company Diatherix Laboratories in 2007, he felt that his best bet was to secure a spot at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology at the Cummings Research Park (CRP) in Huntsville, Ala.

“I’m in a Class A building for much less than I can get office space in Middle Tennessee, and that includes my lease hold and utilities,” Grimaud says. “I can’t find anything here because they’re not focused on the development of technology. The HudsonAlpha Institute is focused on building companies and doing research and will house 600 people when fully operational. There just isn’t the infrastructure [in Middle Tennessee] to make that happen.”

For Grimaud, that was unfortunate, particularly because, as a biotech company, Diatherix’s target market is the health care industry.

“If health care is my end target market, then being close to decision makers is ideal, and it doesn’t get much better than Nashville--the health care capital of the U.S.,” Grimaud says.

He located the sales team and corporate administrative arms of Diatherix here to solve that problem, but Grimaud’s situation, though specific to biotechnology, provides the perfect anecdote to introduce a question that’s been kicked around by local business leaders, business publications and blogs: Does Nashville need a research and technology park?

From Grimaud’s standpoint, the answer is yes, and he’s not the only one in the business community who believes there’s a need for such a park.

Keith Gregg, CEO of Brentwood-based JRG Ventures, a multinational business development and growth strategy firm, says his company has been involved in multiple park developments around the country, and he believes a technology park specializing in life sciences and information technology would “be a great thing for Nashville.”

“Nashville’s geographical location, multiple academic institutions, talent pool and financial resources provide fertile ground for start-up ventures,” Gregg says. “A technology park, such as those established in Alabama, North Carolina, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, and Maryland--and planned or under construction by other cities in Tennessee--would energize Nashville’s unique blend of positive factors and foster increased leverage and synergy of research efforts, accelerate commercial development of new ideas, and provide another marketing tool for Nashville to recruit and retain additional high growth industries.”

Laura Campbell, president and CEO of Laura Campbell & Associates and the founding executive director of the Nashville Health Care Council, agrees, saying a park would be a tremendous asset that would help commercialize new ideas, launch new ventures, grow existing businesses, and attract relocating research and technology companies.

“With the number of health care corporations we have here and so many of them being service-oriented--from hospitals to surgery centers to dialysis to taking care of patients--all of those services benefit from health care technology,” she says. “A research and technology park could serve as a focal point that would help pull together the various technology and research efforts and accelerate their growth.”

Make no mistake, though, steps have been taken in the greater Nashville area to build facilities intended to support technology companies, especially in the area of biotechnology and life sciences. For example, Nashville is home to the Cumberland Emerging Technologies (CET) Life Sciences Center, which offers lab and office space to early-stage biotechnology and life sciences companies. In addition, the Cool Springs Life Sciences Center is a life sciences-focused research and development campus that will ultimately include three buildings meant to encompass about 160,000 square feet. Biotech company BioMimetic Therapeutics occupies one of the buildings (32,000 square feet), and a second building, a manufacturing facility of 60,000-80,000 square feet, is currently under construction. (BioMimetic Therapeutics will use one floor of this second building for its manufacturing operations.)

As a result, some wonder if additional efforts are necessary at this time. Leslie Wisner-Lynch, director of applied research for BioMimetic Therapeutics, where her husband serves as CEO, says Nashville should be aware of the infrastructure already in place and avoid building a larger park until there’s demand for it.

“It’s exciting that people contemplate building these campuses and parks, but I do think it makes sense to utilize the resources that we already have in place in Middle Tennessee before we contemplate building a new park,” says Wisner-Lynch, whose husband, with Williamson County economic development officials, spearheaded the development of the Cool Springs Life Sciences Center. “The need for other things will become evident as we continue to grow and develop.”

Still, some believe the Cool Springs Life Sciences Center is likely to be full by the time it’s complete--not to mention the fact that it’s not even in Metro Davidson County. And as for the CET Life Sciences Center--though it assists early-stage companies, those companies graduate from the center when they reach a certain phase, and in some cases, they even leave Nashville. As a result, A.J. Kazimi, CEO of Cumberland Pharmaceuticals and Cumberland Emerging Technologies, says tenant companies that graduate from the CET Life Sciences Center may benefit from a larger research park facility in the area. Such a park, he says, may also benefit more established biotech firms looking to locate in Nashville.

“Nashville has the potential to be a player in the biotechnology industry, with promising research and startups springing from several area universities and other established firms,” he says. “Leveraging this research foundation to help facilitate growth of the biotechnology industry here could certainly prove beneficial to the local economy over time. In addition, growing Nashville as a biotechnology player is complementary to the larger, thriving health care industry here.”

So, is all this just a bunch of talk, or are there plans on the horizon for such a park within Nashville’s city limits? Gregg says JRG and other groups are “analyzing and initiating efforts to create a technology park in Nashville,” but he declined to expand further.

In addition, Gregg chaired the strategy development committee of the Nashville Chamber’s Partnership 2010 Entrepreneurship Task Force--the purpose of which is to develop a plan to retain, expand and attract high-growth entrepreneurial ventures in Middle Tennessee. Although the strategy development committee discussed the need for a tech park, it remains to be seen whether the report, which hadn’t been released at press time, will contain a recommendation for such a park.

However, one thing is clear: Technology parks require community commitment in the way of effort and dollars. Huntsville’s HudsonAlpha, for example, became a reality with $80 million in private donations and $50 million in state support.

“Whether these funds are matched in some fashion by the state or local government, selected industries, or venture capitalists, civic leaders play a demonstrative leadership position in the successful launch of a technology park,” Gregg says. “Typically, these leaders have derived benefit from the geographical areas they live in and want to return value to the base of their success by nurturing entrepreneurs in a formal fashion.”

So, what’s the word, Nashville? Yea or nay?